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Applied Composite Materials: An International Journal for the Science and Application of Composite Materials (v.13, #4)
Development of Flax Fibre based Textile Reinforcements for Composite Applications by S. Goutianos; T. Peijs; B. Nystrom; M. Skrifvars (pp. 199-215).
Most developments in the area of natural fibre reinforced composites have focused on random discontinuous fibre composite systems. The development of continuous fibre reinforced composites is, however, essential for manufacturing materials, which can be used in load-bearing/structural applications. The current work aims to develop high-performance natural fibre composite systems for structural applications using continuous textile reinforcements like UD-tapes or woven fabrics. One of the main problems in this case is the optimisation of the yarn to be used to manufacture the textile reinforcement. Low twisted yarns display a very low strength when tested dry in air and therefore they cannot be used in processes such as pultrusion or textile manufacturing routes. On the other hand, by increasing the level of twist, a degradation of the mechanical properties is observed in impregnated yarns (e.g., unidirectional composites) similar to off-axis composites. Therefore, an optimum twist should be used to balance processability and mechanical properties. Subsequently, different types of fabrics (i.e., biaxial plain weaves, unidirectional fabrics and non-crimp fabrics) were produced and evaluated as reinforcement in composites manufactured by well established manufacturing techniques such as hand lay-up, vacuum infusion, pultrusion and resin transfer moulding (RTM). Clearly, as expected, the developed materials cannot directly compete in terms of strength with glass fibre composites. However, they are clearly able to compete with these materials in terms of stiffness, especially if the low density of flax is taken into account. Their properties are however very favourable when compared with non-woven glass composites.
Keywords: long flax fibres; flax pre-yarns; textile reinforcement; natural fibre composites
Geometry and Stacking Sequence Effect on Composite Spinnaker Pole's Stiffness: Experimental and Numerical Analysis by Antonino Valenza; Chiara Borsellino; Luigi Calabrese; Guido Di Bella (pp. 217-235).
Composite materials are widely employed in sailing sports, a possible application is for the mast pole or other sail poles. In the paper the attention is focused on the spinnaker poles mechanical performances; in particular the focus is on axial and ring compressive properties of three different carbon fibre/epoxy resin spinnaker poles, to investigate both the diameter and stacking sequence effect on the mechanical performance of the structure. Starting from the stacking sequence used in the production of a particular spinnaker pole, the effect of a lamina at 0° in the middle of wall thickness is investigated with the purpose to obtain a more stiff structure. Moreover to test the proposed stacking sequence on different size products, a prototype with lower diameter is realized. To properly evaluate axial and ring stiffness, axial compression test and ring stiffness one are performed. Then a numerical model is developed to support the design of the finished product: A simple and versatile numerical analysis (FEA with software ANSYS), by simulating ring stiffness and pull-direction compression tests, is carried out in elastic regime. Such model should be suitable for designing and/or verifying the mechanical performance of pole structures, even though differing from those above described, for materials, geometry and stacking sequence.
Keywords: spinnaker pole; stacking sequence; composite material; FEM
Fiber Reinforcement in Injection Molded Nylon 6/6 Spur Gears by S. Senthilvelan; R. Gnanamoorthy (pp. 237-248).
Injection molded polymer composite gears are being used in many power and or motion transmission applications. In order to widen the utilization of reinforced polymers for precision motion transmission and noise less applications, the accuracy of molded gears should be increased. Since the injection molded gear accuracy is significantly influenced by the material shrinkage behaviour, there is a need to understand the influence of fiber orientation and gate location on part shrinkage behaviour and hence the gear accuracy. Unreinforced and 20% short glass fiber reinforced Nylon 6/6 spur gears were injection molded in the laboratory and computer aided simulations of gear manufacturing was also carried out. Results of the mold flow simulation of gear manufacturing were correlated with the actual fiber orientation and measured major geometrical parameters of the molded gears. Actual orientation of the fibers near the tooth profile, weld line region and injection points of molded gears were observed using optical microscope and correlated with predicted fiber orientation.
Keywords: injection molding; polymer gear; fiber orientation; shrinkage; gear accuracy
Time-Temperature Superposition to Determine the Stress-Rupture of Aramid Fibres by K. G. N. C. Alwis; C. J. Burgoyne (pp. 249-264).
Conventional creep testing takes a long time to obtain stress-rupture data for aramid fibres at the low stress levels likely to be used in practical applications. However, the rate of creep of aramid can be accelerated by a thermally activated process to obtain the failure of fibres within a few hours. It is possible to obtain creep curves at different temperature levels which can be shifted along the time axis to generate a single curve know as a master curve, from which stress-rupture data can be obtained. This technique is known as the time-temperature superposition principle and will be applied to Kevlar 49 yarns. Important questions relating to the techniques needed to obtain smooth master curves will be discussed, as will the validity the resulting curves and the corresponding stress-rupture lifetime.
Keywords: Aramid fibres; accelerated testing; creep; stress-rupture